Emergency supply container and method



April 19, 1966 1-. E. LOCKE 3,246,934

EMERGENCY SUPPLY CONTAINER AND METHOD Filed Sept. 18, 1963 INVENTORTRAVIS E.LOGKE HIS ATTORNEYS United States Patent "ice 3,246,934EMERGENCY SUPPLY CONTAINER AND METHOD Travis E. Locke, lR-.R. 2, NewMadison, Ohio Filed Sept. 18,,1963, Ser. No. 309,623 4 Claims. (Cl.30876) This invention relates to an improved emergency lubricatingcontainer or the like as well as to an improved method of emergencylubrication or the like.

It is well known that railroad cars frequently have the wheel bearingjournals thereof severely damaged when the railroad car is on a long runand the journal box thereof has been improperly lubricated because ofthe excess heat created by the so called hot box situation that resultswhereby this improper lubrication has been an expensive and adversecondition for the railroads.

However, according to the teachings of this invention, an improvedcontainer is provided which can be located in the journal box of arailroad car and the like and should the journal box heat up because ofimproper lubrication thereof, the container of this inventionautomatically opens and discharges an emergency supply of lubricant tothe packing in the journal box. to prevent damage to the bearing partsso that a hot box situation cannot exist.

Further, the container of this invention is so constructed and arrangedthat the same provides a visible signal ext'eriorly of the journal boxso that upon routine checking of the railroad cars, it can be determinedwhether a particular emergency container has been discharged requiringattention to that particular journal box.

However, it is to be understood that the containerand method of thisinvention has many other uses than just for an emergency lubricatingsystem for a railroad car journal box or the like and that thisinvention is not to be limited to only such a situation.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improvedcontainer having one or more of the novel features of this invention asset forth above or hereinafter shown or described.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved journal boxfor a railroad car or the like, the journal box having one or more ofthe novel features set forth above or hereinafter shown or described.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved method ofutilizing such a container or the like.

Other objects, uses and advantages of this invention are apparent from areading of this description which proceeds with reference to theaccompanying drawings forming a part thereof and wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective viewillustrating one embodiment of theimproved container of this invention.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary, cross-sectional view taken on line2-2 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating the improvedcontainer of FIGURE 1 disposed in a conventional railroad car journalbox or the like.

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 3 and illustrates the initialopening of the container of this invention.

FIGURE 5 is a view similar to FIGURE 4 and illustrates a furtheroperating position of the parts of this invention.

3,246,934 Patented Apr. 19, 1966 FIGURE 6 is a view similar to FIGURE 1and illustrates another embodiment of the container of this invention.

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged, fragmentary, cross-sectional view taken onlines 77 of FIGURE 6.

While the various features of this invention are hereinafter describedand illustrated as being particularly adaptable for providing anemergency lubricating systemfor a railroad car journal box or the like,it is to be understood that the various features of this invention canbe utilized singly or in any combination thereof to provide a supply offluid or the like for other systems as desired.

Therefore, this invention is not to be limited to only the embodimentsillustrated in the drawings, because the drawings are merely utilized toillustrate one of the wide variety of uses of this invention;

Referring now to FIGURE l, an improved container of this invention isgenerally indicated by the reference numeral 1-0 and can comprise aconventional metallic container having a-cylindr ical side wall-1 1' andopposed flat end closures 1 2 and 13 secured thereto in any suitablemanner.

However, the end wall 12 of the container- 10 is scored at 14 to' definepart of the perimeter of a fiap means 15 for a purpose hereinafterdescribed.

For example, the score 14 can partially pass through the end wall 12 inthe manner illustrated in FIGURE 2 so that the end wall 12 is weakenedin the area of the flap 15 so that the flap 15 can be readily severedfrom the end wall 12 for a purpose hereinafter described.

For example, the score 14 in the end wall 12 of the container 10 can beso controlled that the flap 15 will only open when an internal force inthe container 10 reaches a predetermined pressure;

As illustrated in FIGURE 3, a certain quantity of lubricant 16- isdisposed in the container 10 and the remainder of the chamber in thecontainer 111 is filled with a suitable gas 17 for the purpose now to'bedescribed.

The gas 17' is so selected thatthe" same changes its working pressure asthe temperature thereof increases so that'when the gas 17 senses apredetermined temperature, the pressure thereof pushing on the lubricant16 is 'of such a value that the same forces open the flap means 15 toprovide an opening in the end wall 12 of thecontainer 10' through whichthe lubricant 16 cannot only be forced out of by the gas 17, but alsocan flow out of the same by gravity for a purpose hereinafter described.

For example, the gas 17 can comprise dichlorodifluorornethane normallysold under the trademark Freon-l2 and can have a p.s.i.g. of; 70.192 atF. However, when the temperature of the gas 17 reaches F. it has ap.s.i.g. of 117.16. Similarly, when the gas 17 has a temperature of F.,it has a p.s.i.g. of 234.16, and when the gas 17 has a temperature of200 F., it has a p.s.i;g. of 415.39.

Therefore, it can be seen that by properly selecting the gas 17 and byproperly providing the score 14 in the end wall 12 of the container 11,the selected gas 17 can force open the flap means 15 of the container 10when the same senses a predetermined temperature.

While dichlorodifluoromethane has been heretofore described as being aparticular gas that can be utilized with the container 10 of thisinvention, it is to be understood that other gas or fluid can beutilized to control the operation of the container 10 in the manner nowto be described.

Referring now to FIGURE 3, a conventional railroad journal box isgenerally indicated by the reference nurneral 18 and comprises a housing19 having a rotatable wheel shaft 20 passing therethrough and beingmounted for relative movement relative to the journal box housing 19 bysuitable bearing means 20A.

A suitable packing 21 is disposed in the housing 19 and surrounds thejournal shaft 20 so as to provide means for retaining a lubricant forlubricating the shaft 20 at the bearing means 20A of the journal housingbox 18.

During normal maintenance of the railroad car, a maintenance manattempts to lubricate each journal box 18 in a conventional mannerwhereby the packing 21 is saturated with a lubricant which normallysupplies a sufiicient amount of lubricant to the shaft 20 for the normallength of time of operation of the particular railroad car until it isagain lubricated in the conventional manner.

However, as previously set forth, it has been found that either bynegligence or by improper lubrication means, certain journal boxes 19are not properly lubricated so that during a run of the railroad car,the lubricant in the packing 21 is used up so that subsequent operationof the shaft 20 causes friction on the bearing means 20A thereof wherebythe same adversely heats up until the shaft and/or bearing means 20A arecompletely ruined.

However, by locating the container 10 of this invention above thepacking 21 in the journal box 18 in the manner illustrated in FIGURE 3,the container 10 of this invention can prevent the aforementioned damageto the shaft 20 and its bearing means 20A in a manner now to bedescribed.

As illustrated in FIGURE 3, the container 10 is disposed in the housing19 of the journal box 18 in such a manner that the same is disposed onits side with the flap means 15 thereof being disposed adjacent thepacking 21.

A suitable plunger 22 is provided and has the shank portion thereofpassing out through an opening 23 formed in the journal housing 19 whilean enlarged end 24 thereof abuts against the flap means 15 of thecontainer 10 for a purpose hereinafter described.

During the operation of the railroad car journal box 18, it may be foundthat through improper lubrication thereof, that the journal box 18begins to heat up because of the unlubricated bearing surfaces of themoving parts thereof whereby the increased temperatureof the journal box18 increases the temperature of the gas 17 and the container 10. As thetemperature of the gas 17 rises in the above manner, the pressurethereof acting against the lubricant 16 increases until the same reachesa predetermined pressure and forces open the flap means 15 in the endwall 12 of the container 10.

When the pressure of the gas 17 reaches the predetermined point, thesame forces open the flap means 15 of the container 10 and, because, theflap 15 has an upper portion thereof integrally hinged to the containerend wall 12, the same bends upwardly in the manner illustrated in FIGUREto provide an opening 25 in the end wall 12 of the container throughwhich the lubricant 16 can be forced out of the container 10 by thepressure of the gas 17 above the same.

At the same time that the flap means opens, the flap means 15 pushesagainst the enlarged head 24 of the indicator means 22 to force theshaft to project completely out of the housing 19 in the mannerillustrated in FIG- URE 4 so that the same provides a visible signalmeans to a person viewing the exterior of the journal box 19 that theemergency lubricating container 10 therein has been discharged and thatthe journal box 19 requires attention.

When the flap means 15 of the container 16 has been opened in the mannerillustrated in FIGURE 4, it can be seen that the pressure of the gas 17rapidly forces the lubricant 16 out through the opening 25 so that thesame can properly saturate the packing 21 to provide lubricating meansfor the bearing means 26A of the shaft 20 to prevent the same from beingadversely affected.

As the level of the lubricant 16 is lowered, it can be seen that whenthe same reaches the level of the opening 25 in the end wall 12 of thecontainer 10, the gas 17 can now escape out of the opening 25 in themanner illustrated in FIGURE 5 whereby the remaining lubricant 16 in thecontainer 10 can flow by gravity out of the opening 25 to the packing 21so that substantially the entire amount of lubricant 16 can be utilizedto saturate the packing 21 of the railroad car journal box 18.

Therefore, it can be seen that the container 10 of this invention isreadily adapted to sense an adverse temperature condition of therailroad journal box 18 and can reduce the temperature situation thereofby providing an emergency supply of lubricant to the shaft 20 before thesame has reached a temperature which would adversely affect the same aswell as the bearing means of the journal box 19, the supply of lubricantprovided by the container 10 being suificient to last for many hundredsof miles of use of the particular railroad car.

While one form of providing the flap means 15 in the container 10 hasbeen previously described, it is to be understood that other suitablemeans can be provided for the container 10 of this invention whereby theresulting structure will still fall within the scope of the appendedclaims.

For example, an opening can be provided in the end wall 12 of thecontainer 10 and a suitable plug can be provided therein which willrupture or blow out when the pressure of the gas 17 reaches apredetermined pressure.

In particular, reference is made to FIGURE 6 wherein another containerof this invention is generally indicated by the reference numeral 26 andcomprises a cylindrical side wall 27 having a pair of opposed end walls28 and 29.

The end wall 28 has an opening 30 cut therein in the manner illustratedin FIGURE 7 and a suitable plug 31 is disposed in the opening 30 totemporarily close the same.

However, the plug material 31 is so constructed and arranged that thesame will blow outwardly when the temperature of the gas in thecontainer 26 reaches a predetermined temperature in the mannerpreviously described for the container 10 so that the plug 31 willoperate the signal means 22 in the manner previously described.

Therefore, it can be seen that many variations may be made in thecontainer of this invention while the same will still function in themanner previously described and fall within the scope of the appendedclaims.

Thus, it can be seen that not only does this invention provide animproved container and an improved journal box for a railroad car or thelike, but also this invention provides an improved method for utilizingsuch a container or the like.

While the form of the invention now preferred has been disclosed asrequired by the statutes, other formsv may be used, all coming withinthe scope of the claims, which follow.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination, a housing, bearing means disposed in said housing,and a container disposed in said housing, said container containing alubricant and a gas means contacting said lubricant, said containerhaving openable means to open said container when said gas means reachesa predetermined temperature caused by said bearing means whereby saidgas means forces said lubricant out through said openable means tolubricate. said bearing means.

2. A combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein said housing carriessignal means and said openable means of said container actuates saidsignal means when said openable means is opened by said gas means.

3. A combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein said openable means ofsaid container comprises a scored portion of a wall of said container.

4. A combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein said openable meanscomprises a plug means disposed in an opening in a wall of saidcontainer.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Ferguson 116-103Achufi et al. 3081.5 Shillady et al. 2'22-397 Webster 222-397 DON A.WAITE, Primary Examiner.

10 FRANK SUSKO, Examiner.

1. IN COMBINATION, A HOUSING, BEARING MEANS DISPOSED IN SAID HOUSING,AND A CONTAINER DISPOSED IN SAID HOUSING, SAID CONTAINER CONTAINING ALUBRICANT AND A GAS MEANS CONTACTING SAID LUBRICANT, SAID CONTAINERHAVING OPENABLE MEANS TO OPEN SAID CONTAINER WHEN SAID GAS MEANS REACHESA PREDETERMINED TEMPERATURE CAUSED BY SAID BEARING MEANS WHEREBY SAIDGAS MEANS FORCES SAID LUBRICANT OUT THROUGH SAID OPENABLE MEANS TOLUBRICATE SAID BEARING MEANS.